Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

Last year after the sandstorm my girlfriend and I, getting older, decided it might be time to have the luxury of a bed and shower every night/morning for the festival. We are looking at booking the La Quinta Resort and Club through VMT, but have questions for those that have stayed here and also used VMT for any other hotel.

Basically I want to get a feel for, this being the closest hotel travel package that VMT offers (also the most expensive), is it worth the money to stay at this hotel with it being so close?

How long did the shuttle wait/drive take? Are cabs easy/cheap going in/out of this place if we miss the shuttle going home at night?
What was the age demographic at the hotel? (we are 30)
Was the place noisy/loud/rowdy? Are there day parties at the pool?
How were the restaurants? Do they have 24 hour room service?
How were the staff during coachella? Angry and annoyed?
Did you play any golf/or use the spa? How were the facilities of each?
Would you recommend this hotel to another person/couple?
What other hotels (if any) have you stayed at during coachella and was the distance ever a factor?
If you could pick one to stay at, would La Quinta be it?

Anyone who has stayed at any of the other hotels please feel free to chime in with your experience. We are considering just about all of them, but with La Quinta being so close it seems like the best option as far as "ease of use" goes, but I wanted to hear it from the patrons.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

Originally Posted by gam3g3ni3

1. How long did the shuttle wait/drive take? Are cabs easy/cheap going in/out of this place if we miss the shuttle going home at night?
2. What was the age demographic at the hotel? (we are 30)
3. Was the place noisy/loud/rowdy? Are there day parties at the pool?
4. How were the restaurants? Do they have 24 hour room service?
5. How were the staff during coachella? Angry and annoyed?
6. Did you play any golf/or use the spa? How were the facilities of each?
7. Would you recommend this hotel to another person/couple?
8. What other hotels (if any) have you stayed at during coachella and was the distance ever a factor?
9. If you could pick one to stay at, would La Quinta be it?

We have not stayed at the LQ Resort & Club, but we have taken the shuttle from there the last three years. We use the LQ facilities and spend a good deal of time there. We are very familiar with the immediate vicinity and highly recommend staying at the club (if you can afford it) or taking the shuttle from there every day and staying within walking or biking distance of the shuttle stop itself.

Forget about cabs. Shuttles run late and you won’t miss them. Whether it be the shuttle from LQ to the fest or the return trip, I’ve never waitied more than 7 minutes before the shuttle left. Usually it’s less than 5 mins. The drive in is quick and take about 15 mins max. There is adequate supply of busses so that there is always one to walk on without a line.

The age demographic is mid-20’s to mid-30’s. More notably, these are kids with cash. They aren’t annoying trust-fund types, they just seem to be kids from well-off families or young adults with lots of money. They are respectful and smart. They are less bros and more yuppies. Also, some families with late teenage children. On more than one occasion, I’ve seen parents walking their kids to the bus. And not to stereotype any further, but if 1 in 3 of the general Coachella population has ink, we’ve noticed that about 1 in 15 at the LQ resort do. Also, the parking lot is full of very expensive cars.

There are lots of pools and I wouldn’t say there is anything loud or rowdy about them. They play music relevant to the crowd. Overall it’s a relaxed, yet upbeat and friendly atmosphere.

There is an expensive brunch that looks awesome. Also, there is a taco cart at the entrance at night.

The staff seem generally welcoming of the crowd. They set up extra water stations throughout the resort and random min-bars where they are whipping up Bloody Marys and such on the way to the shuttle..

I have had friends golf Coachella weekend and regretted waking up for the tee-time and regretted feeling tired later that day at the festival.

The only reason we aren’t staying there is the cost. We’ve always had 3-5 people in our group and the packages don’t really cater to odd numbers of people. But we always stay nearby and use the facilities throughout the resort. The other drawback is that the packages are only 3 nights and adding the 4th is an additional expense on top of something that’s already expensive.

We now rent a house as close to walking distance to the LQ shuttle stop as possible. PM me for some suggestions within La Quinta.

Yes, because of the extra quick ride to and from the festival. Out the door, onto the shuttle, the ride itself, off the shuttle, and into the first security line is as easy as it gets. 30 minutes MAX.

Originally Posted by dj12inches

What makes me qualified? I've watched EVERY fucking episode of American Idol, and every single episode of The Voice...Forget that I won departmental music awards when I was in the 8th grade choir.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

Stayed at La Quinta with my spousal unit for Weekend 1. DEFINITELY worth the money. I stayed at Lake Eldorado both weekends in 2012, and LQ was a WAY better experience overall.

I agree with PlayaDelWes's assessment -- I don't know how you could have a better hotel situation for Coachella than LQ -- we had a GREAT experience. Nice room, pools for days, and excellent restaurants. The shuttles were always waiting for us when we wanted to get to the festival. Loved the taco guys and their late night setup. I'm not a golfer, but LQ is I believe considered to be one of the best in Southern California. One note: there is 24-hour room service, but the VERY late night menu is limited -- just a small handful of different items (pizza, club sandwich, etc). One big plus is our room had a refrigerator and wet bar.

That said, we want to be closer-in next year, so we're going to give Safari World a try.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

I stayed at La Quinta in 2011 and 2013, I stayed at the Renaissance in 2012. We just booked the La Quinta again for 2014 - it's definitely worth it. I'm disappointed that they don't have option of adding Thursday night in the package this year. That was one of the perks of purchasing through VMT.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

How are the Homewood Suites Palm Desert - Anyone ever stay there? Intriguing that the price is so much lower than most of the other (closer, I suppose) options. But still lower (?) than Lake Eldorado. What a joke that some hotel packages are now costing less than that.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

We stayed there 2 years ago because I had booked it way ahead of time (guessing Coachella's dates)-at a very cheap rate.
So, with shuttle plus GA tickets, I had a do- it- yourself package, and Thursday night, as well.

It was very clean and comfortable with a nice little kitchenette and pool. Everyone was courteous and helpful.

I just want something easy-cool, comfortable and quiet. A place to recharge.

The shuttles were there every time we needed one, and they gave us cold water and a place under a canopy to board.
It seems like a rather circuitous shuttle adventure. Sometimes would stop at other properties and load up-taking quite a while to get to the grounds.

This past year, I booked us at La Quinta Homewood Suites, again, guessing the date and getting a low rate, and-based on the fact that they'd had a shuttle directly from there the previous year, but that was discontinued in 2013.

I liked this one very much, too-even though we had to catch the shuttle from the tennis gardens. I wasn't crazy about that inconvenience.

I am not in the area for a resort experience, or to hang out where I'm staying. I am not a "Hey, where's the party?" at 3 A.M., kind of gal.

Just want cool, clean, comfy. Homewood Suites was just perfect for that. Very happy at Homewood.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

Homewood Suites La Quinta seems to have unfortunately caught on to the early booking trick... couldn't book any April rooms until yesterday, at more than double the price of last year. It's a real shame since that hotel was pretty great. I have a reservation but will probably give it up and look for a condo.

Re: Best Hotel through VMT package? (La Quinta Resort And Club?)

Originally Posted by gam3g3ni3

You can book directly on their website for Thursday. $269 or $229 (I forget) for AAA members.

That's exactly what I ended up doing

Just in case anyone is looking for some information about this: Ethan from VMT emailed me back. He said, we should email VMT the confirmation number for the Thursday night reservation. VMT should be able to link your Thursday night reservation with the rest of the weekend so that we won't have to switch rooms between Thursday & Friday night. Although, he did mention there is no guarantee that this can be done. It will be a legit pain in the ass to have to switch rooms between Thursday & Friday night. I would recommend booking sooner rather than later for any of the hotels because the Thursday night add-on might not be available.